Device for storing pre-selected patterns for circular knitting machines having a plurality of systems

ABSTRACT

A device for storing preselected patterns for circular knitting machines. The device includes a peg board having openings for receiving differently shaped pegs for each loop of a knitted pattern. The peg board is matrix-like having rows and columns of peg-receiving openings arranged according to loop rows and rods. Each peg-receiving opening has at least one resistance which is dependent on its corresponding magnetic field, and which is located in the electronic circuit switching circuit and the magnetic trans-flux of which can be influenced by a peg-like control member which can be inserted in the peg-receiving opening.

United States Patent 1191 Hamma Aug. 13, 1974 [54] DEVICE FOR STORING PRE-SELECTED 1,057,878 2/1967 01631311121111, 66/154 A AT S O C C KNITTING 1,164,130 9/1969 Great Britain 66/154 A MACHINES HAVING A PLURALITY 0F 1,165,368 9/1969 Great Britain 66/154 A SYSTEMS OTHER PUBLICATIONS 75 l t G nven or fr gg iig g figi Melan, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. [73] A M h fb ks -h G b 3,0ct. 1959, P. 50.

ss1gnee: ac men a 11 paic ingen m S W tt, G Collins et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. pm mgen/ many 13, NO. 1, June 1970, p. 189. [22] Filed: May 1, 1972 PP 2491056 Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds [30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 10, 1971 Germany 2122912 [57] ABSTRACT A device for storing preselected patterns for circular 66/50 1. 340/174 EB knitting machines. The device includes a peg board 1] I Cl 4 15/78 having openings forreceiving differently shaped pegs [58] of Search 340/174 E31 174 HA; for each loop of a knitted pattern. The peg board is 323/94 H; 66/50 R 154 A matrix-like having rows and columns of peg-receiving openings arranged according to loop rows and rods. [56] Reference-S C'ted Each peg-receiving opening has at least one resistance UNITED STATES PATENTS which is dependent on its corresponding magnetic 3,512,141 5/1970 Minnick et al 340/174 R field, and which is located in the electronic Circuit 3,519,899 7/1970 Yamada., 323/94 H Switching circuit and the magnetic trans-flux of which 3,5 35,626 10/1971 Vemura et al. 323/94 H can be influenced by a peg-like control member which 3,611,358 10/1971 Dalmasso 340/174 HA X an be inserted in the peg-receiving opening.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6 Cl 9 D 1,123,873 8/1968 01661 1311111111 66/50 R rawmg gums 2 1? F1 1 T 1 1 17 l g i S; p

I T 18 j 1 I 10b 106 E! 1' 11 1 1 12/1 1g] 02 j i w l 100 b 2 l1 x" o v I 1 m 1 ,1 12/111 0 v I I L I U A x! x E i f PATENTED M18 I 31974 SHEET 3 BF 3 H Flg. L

1. DEVICE FOR STORING PRE-SELECTED PATTERNS FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES HAVING A PLURALITY OF SYSTEMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to devices for in the form of peg boards.

Such pattern information storage devices in the form of peg boards are already known. For example, the published German patent application Ser. No. 1,239,177 discloses a so-called multicontact data receiver with a connecting matrix, in which the matrix consists of spring contacts, which can be closed with contact rods having suitable cam portions. Also there is disclosed in published German patent application Ser. No. 2,007,515 an arrangement in the form ofa peg board for receiving information. This peg board has storage positions arranged in the form of a matrix. The storage positions are formed with magnetic storage cores having rectangularly shaped hysteresis loops, which can be influenced by means of permanently magnetized peg rods. Furthermore, there is disclosed another embodiment in earlier German patent application P 19 61 096.9 in which there is used a peg board as a pattern data information storage device.

The afore-described known pre-selected pattern storage devices all have the drawback in that they are very expensive to manufacture because of the switching and contact elements used therein and the manner in which the entire arrangement is assembled and finished. The significance of this drawback will be appreciated when one realizes that the aforedescribed types of peg boardpreselected pattern storage devices must control patterns for knitting machines having a very large number of storage positions so that a large pattern scheme may be stored. Since, for example, magnetic storage cores are very expensive, the manufacture of such a device becomes very costly even if one disregards the necessary wiring that always must be included in such a device. But it should also be noted that peg boards which are constructed in the manner of cross-rail-distributors and operate with mechanically actuated contact members are also expensive to manufacture. In such devices it is necessary that the peg board and the peg rods which are to be inserted into the openings are manufactured with high precision. The mechanically actuated contacts 'must all be formed essentially as twincontacts, so that with the small control currents there is still furnished a good contact. The peg rods must be manually soldered onto a conducting plate, since these rods must be exactly oriented with respect to contact springs. Furthermore, in the aforedescribed peg boards, there must be provided at each peg opening a diode for preventing a reaction onto the 'other peg openings of the board and their conduits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION storing patterns It is a principal object of this invention to provide a I preselected pattern data storage device in the form of a peg board which can be manufactured with considerably less cost and therefore can be sold at a reduced cost.

lt is another object of the invention to construct the peg board so that it is more compact. More specifically, in the peg board of the invention, the peg openings are arranged in a more compact manner without requiring more than average manufacturing tolerances of the individual parts.

The aforedescribed objects of this invention are solved by providing the peg-receiving openings in the peg board with at least one resistance which is magnetic-field-dependent. This resistance is preferably in the form of a field plate which is situated in an electronic switching circuit and the magnetic transflux of which can be influenced by a peg control member inserted into the corresponding peg-receiving opening. These relatively cheap magnetic-field-dependent resistances can be arranged in the air gap between yoke-portions of a permanent magnet, so that they are situated in the magnetic field of this permanent magnet. The pegs used in conjunction with these magnetic-fielddependent resistances have at least one magnetic conducting contact portion for bridging this air gap. Each peg-receiving opening may have a plurality of field plates, which can be arranged in separate electronic switching circuits. Among the different types of peg control elements which coact with the peg board there can be also provided those types of pegs which have a corresponding number of magnetically conducting contact portions. r The permanent magnets which have yoke-portions that define an air gap are easy to manufacture and consequently, cheap. Similarly, the pegs which are used in conjunction with these permanent magnets may have magnetically conducting portions which consist of simple sheet iron.

, Each field plate may form a portion of a voltage divider of a voltage-controlled transistor switching stage and may be arranged with one of its ends jointly with corresponding ends of the field plates of equal value of the other peg-receiving positions of the same peg board column onto the take-off point of the voltage divider connected to the common column conduit and be arranged with its other end to a common line conduit of a line of peg positions that is formed on the peg board. Thus for each column of the peg board there is only re quired a single transistor switching stage when the peg positions have a magnetic-field-dependent resistance. Two magnetic-field-dependent resistances are provided for each peg position and, each column of the peg board has two transistor switching stages. These transistor switching stages can be formed with only one single transistor and are therefore also cheap to manu: facture. There are no switching stages required for the line conduits of the peg board, as these line conduits can, with the aid of an additional and not illustrated line or loop row counter be connected successively to the chassis or frame or at one of the poles of a DC source of electric energy.

The aforedescribed solution for the object of the in vention is favored by the construction of the peg board, which may have a supporting plate, on which the column conduits and line conduits are arranged, in particular in the form of printed circuits, and which may additionally have terminals for the magnetic-field- .dependent resistances. The peg positions of the peg board are advantageously formed as housings arranged in or between the support plate, in which there are housed the magnetic-field-dependent resistances with plurality of them may be arranged in a row and so that they cover, jointly with filler bodies, the edge portion of the peg board of the entire support plate. The housings contain the magnetic-fieId-dependent resistances for a plurality, in particular, two peg positions, and they are provided advantageously with upper and lateral openings. These openings, together with similar openings of adjacent housings, surround the peg-receiving openingsof the peg board. The column conduits may be arranged on the upper side and the line conduits may be arranged on the underside of the support plate or vice-versa. The conduits arranged on the upper side of the support plate are advantageously provided, at the contact terminals in the upper situated housings which contain the magnetic-field-dependent resistances, with contact lugs or other types of contact bridges, which can receive the terminals of the wires of the resistances and which are guided to the underside of the support plate. In this manner it is possible to produce the electric connections after the housing has been put on the support plate with a single dip into a soldering material in which the underside of the support plate is dipped into the soldering material bath. Due to this procedure, the cost for producing the peg board is considerably reduced. The peg board arrangement of this invention when compared to the peg board arrangements of the state ofthe art having an identical number of peg positions, can be manufactured with substantially smaller overall dimensions for the purpose described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing which forms part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram .of a peg board in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of an embodiment of a peg board in which certain parts have been removed partially for sake of clarity and certain other parts are illustrated in cross-section;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the underside of the support plate forthe peg board of FIGv 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view through the peg board along line IVIV in FIG. 2, which is at a larger scale than the scale of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the peg board along line V-V of FIG. 4, wherein the peg control members have been removed;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of a sheet that covers the peg board and accommodates the pegs;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a peg inserted into the support sheet along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view through a peg along line IX--IX in FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, a preferred embodiment has at each peg position of the peg board two small field plates 10a, 10)? which act as magnetic-fielddependent resistances. These two field plates 10 are at all times associated with one peg position 11 and have been designated in FIG. I with reference numbers 10a and 10b in order to differentiate them. In FIG. 1 there is shown an electric circuit diagram having three successive peg position columns A, B, and C of the peg board extending over region of four successive peg positions 11, which are combined in the four peg board lines I, II, III, and IV. The entire peg board may, for example, have peg position columns and 100 peg position lines. Each field plate 10a and 10b of a peg position 11 is connected to a through-conduit 12 via a connecting conduit 102, said through-conduit being in turn connected to a line input terminal 13. The individual line conduits 12 and their input terminals 13 are designated in FIG. 1 additionally with associated line numbers I, II, III, and IV of the peg board in order to differentiate them from each other. All of the field plates are connected via connecting wires 101 to a common column conduit 14 so that all of the field plates 10a of the peg positions 11 pertaining to a common peg board column A, B, C, etc., are connected to each other by the common column conduit 14 and the corresponding connecting wires 101 of the second field plates 1012 are connected to each other by a common column conduit 15. Again in FIG. 1, the column conduits l4 and 15 are additionally designated with reference letters A, B, C, etc., in order to differentiate them from each other, said letters pertaining to the respective columns with which these conduits are associated.-

Each one of the column conduits 14 and 15 is connected to the terminal 16 of a voltage divider, which is formed by one of a pair of field plates 10a and 10b and a common resistance 17 and also forms part of a transistor switching stage having a transistor 18 and a signal output 19. All of the first field plates 10a of a peg board column, for example, column A, are connected with a common transistor switching stage, which has the signal output 19a, whereas the second field plate 10b of the same peg board column associated with a similar transistor switching stage having the signal output 19b. All of the transistor switching stages of the peg board are connected via the connecting terminal U to the positive pole of a DC source of electric energy, for example, +5V, the negative pole of which is connected to the chassis or frame M. If information is requested from the preselected pattern storage device, the line conduit inputs 13 are successively connected to a chassis (ground) by means of a non-illustrated loop row counter and thereby the associated field plates of the corresponding peg position line become effective in the voltage dividers of the transistor switching stages of the peg position columns.

Thus it can be noted that all of the field plates 10a, 10b form one portion of a voltage divider. The transistor switching stages are constructed in such a way that when a magnetic field influence is exerted by the field plates 10a, 10b and a correspondingly increased resistance value is produced in these field plates, the transistor 18 of the associated transistor stage remains open so that at the signal output 19 of the transistor switching stage there only remains the collector-emittersaturation voltage U. On the other hand, if the magnetic field influence of the field plates is interrupted or decreased and thereby a corresponding resistance decrease of these field. plates is attained, the transconductive path of the transistor 18 is closed and consequently the output voltage at the signal output 19 will be the full operating voltage U. The interruption or reduction of the magnetic field which acts on the field plates 10a, 10b of a peg position 11 of the peg board is effected by means of the pegs which are inserted into the peg positions, as will be explained in detail hereinsupport plate 20, the column conduits 14 and 15 are shown in FIG. 2 to be formed as printed circuits. The line conduits 12 of the peg board are, in contradistinction thereto, shown in FIG. 3 as being arranged on the underside of the support plate 20 and are also embodied in the form of printed circuits. The conduits 12 have in their middle region soldered connections 121, whereas the connecting wires 101 of the field plates a and 10b are connected with the column conduits 14 and 15 by means of lugs 152 and 142 extending through the support plate and being connected to the conduits 14 and 15 at the solid connections 141 and 151. The contact lugs 152 and 142 can be replaced, of course, by other types of contact bridges. The connection of the field plates 10 to the corresponding line conduits and column conduits can also be carried out by dipping the underside of the support plate 20 of the prepared peg board into a soldering material bath (see .FIGl 6).

The support plate 20 of the peg board is provided, furthermore, with peg bores 21 for receiving the peg rods 22, said peg rods 22 being arranged on the underside of the housings 23, said housings being mounted on the support plate 20. The field plates 10 and the associated permanent magnet systems are mounted within the housings 23. The housings 23 have a nonsymmetrical shape, as can be clearly noted from FIGS. 2 and 5, wherein there is shown such a housing 23 in cross-section. The housings 23 contain both field plates 10a and 10b of two peg positions 11 which are associated with adjacent peg position columns and peg position lines of the peg board. By forming the housings 23 as described hereinabove, an optimum space-saving arrangement of all peg positions 11 on the support plate 20 is obtained. As can be noted from FIG. 5, each housing 23 is provided in the region of the peg position 11 with an upwardly directed as well as a laterally directed opening 24 as well as with a lateral projection 25. The peg positions 11, one row of which is designated with reference numerals 11 in FIG. 2, are at all times bordered by a plurality of housings 23. The housings 23, jointly with the filler bodies 231, cover, along the edge portions of the arrangement, the entire support plate 20.

The inner construction of the peg rods 22 arranged in the housings 23, which are anchored in the support plate 20, are best illustrated in the cross-sectional view in FIG. 4. As can be noted, on both sides, of the opening 24 (also referred to as a peg control member receiving opening) there are arranged in the housing the permanent magnetic bodies 26 having the yoke portions 27 and 28. These yoke-portions 27 and 28 are made out of iron and form between themselves an air gap 29 in which the field plates 10a or 10b which are asso- 6O necting wires 101 and 102 of the field plates 10 can be clearly noted in FIG. 6. The field plates, therefore, are situated also in the magnetic circuit of the permanent magnets 26. As soon as there is inserted into a peg position 11 a peg control member 30, which is provided in the region of its peg rod 301 with an iron sheet 31 and- /or 32 by means of which the air gap 29 of the yoke parts 27 and 28 of the permanent magnet 26 are bridged, causes the magnetic flux to travel via the iron sheet part 31 around the air gap 29, as is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4. Thus, by changing the magnetic field conditions in the air gap 29, it is possible to change the resistance of the field plate 10b illustrated in FIG. 4.

As is shown in FIG. 4, the peg rod 30 can be formed in four different shapes. They can be provided at one of their sides with an iron sheet 31 only, or at the other one of their sides with an iron sheet 32 only. They can also be provided with iron sheets 31 and 32 on both of their sides or they can have no iron sheets at all. Thus the peg rods 30 coacting with two field plates 10a and 10b per peg position 11 can, in this manner, bring the peg positions into four different storage conditions, whereby the peg rods 30, which have no iron sheet 31 and/or 32, can be left out altogether. The peg rods have gripping knobs 302 which are preferably four-cornered as can be noted from FIGS. 2 and 7. As can be noted from FIG. 8, these peg rods are provided in the region near the head thereof with positioning portions 301 having on one side thereof a guide nose or a guide path 303 which extends in a guide slot 111 (see FIG. 2) of the peg position 11 and ensures that the peg rod is correctly inserted into the peg position.

As can be noted from FIG. 7, the peg rods 30 can be inserted into a holding sheet 34 which has peg openings 33 that coincide with the peg positions 11, said holding sheet 34 extending over the entire peg board. The openings 33 in the holding sheet 34 also have guide slots 331 which are adapted to receive the guide noses 303 of the guide rods 30. The guide noses or guide projections 303 of the guide. rods can be provided with a catch notch in which the holding sheet 34 having the slots 331 can engage. Different peg rods 30 have differently colored heads 302 and thus by visual examination the correct peg rods 30 can be inserted into the correct openings 33 of the holding sheet 34 in accordance with a preselected pattern scheme and thereafter the holding sheet 34 jointly with the inserted peg rods can be mounted on the peg board and be inserted into the correct peg positions.

Although the. invention is illustrated and described with reference to one preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be expressly understood that it is in no way limited to the disclosure of such a preferred embodiment, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A peg-board for preselected patterns for multisystem cicular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members, comprising in combination,

a plurality of peg control members;

a supporting plate;

a plurality of housings mounted on said supporting plate, each housing having at least one peg contro member receiving opening;

said openings being arranged in said peg-board means in rows and columns;

at least one magnetic-field dependent resistance mounted in each housing adjacent to each said opening;

electronic circuit means operatively connecting said magnetic-field-dependent resistance to said loopforming members of said circular knitting machine, said electronic circuit means being at least partially in the form of a printed circuit;

said magnetic-field-resistance includes a plurality of field plates and permanent magnetic means, each field plate forming part of a separate electronic switching circuit of said electronic means;

said peg control members being adapted to be inserted into said receiving openings for influencing the magnetic transflux characteristics of the magnetic-field-dependent resistance mounted adjacent the corresponding receiving opening and thereby adjusting the actuation of at least one loopforming member in said circular knitting machine;

each said permanent magnet means having a pair of pole legs which define an air gap between the opposed ends thereof, one of said field plates being disposed in said air gap, some of said peg control members having at least one magnetically conductive member mounted thereon which serves to bridge said air gap in the opening in which said peg control member is inserted.

2. A peg-board for storing preselected patterns for column of said peg-board.

3. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 2, wherein said magnetically conductive member is made of sheet iron, said peg control member having a guide projection and said opening having a mating slot for guidingly receiving said guide projection.

4. A peg-board for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 2, including terminals connected to said row and column conduit means and also being mounted on said support plate.

5. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of housings are made of plastic material and have an asymmetrical shape, and filler bodies adapted to be mounted on said support plate so that the housings and filler bodies cover the entire surface of said support plate, said housing having walls so that adjacent housings define said openings and each housing being adapted to house two magnetic-field-dependent resistances.

6. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of row conduit means are mounted on one side of said support plate and said plurality of column conduit means are mounted on the opposite side of said support plate, wire means connected to and extending from said permanent magnet means through said support plate and being connected to the conduit means which are mounted on the side of the support plate to which the wire means extend by means of soldered connections formed by dipping said side of the support plate in a bath of soldering material. 

1. A peg-board for preselected patterns for multi-system cicular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members, comprising in combination, a plurality of peg control members; a supporting plate; a plurality of housings mounted on said supporting plate, each housing having at least one peg control member receiving opening; said openings being arranged in said peg-board means in rows and columns; at least one magnetic-field dependent resistance mounted in each housing adjacent to each said opening; electronic circuit means operatively connecting said magneticfield-dependent resistance to said loop-forming members of said circular knitting machine, said electronic circuit means being at least partially in the form of a printed circuit; said magnetic-field-resistance includes a plurality of field plates and permanent magnetic means, each field plate forming part of a separate electronic switching circuit of said electronic means; said peg control members being adapted to be inserted into said receiving openings for influencing the magnetic transflux characteristics of the magnetic-field-dependent resistance mounted adjacent the corresponding receiving opening and thereby adjusting the actuation of at least one loop-forming member in said circular knitting machine; each said permanent magnet means having a pair of pole legs which define an air gap between the opposed ends thereof, one of said field plates being disposed in said air gap, some of said peg control members having at least one magnetically conductive member mounted thereon which serves to bridge said air gap in the opening in which said peg control member is inserted.
 2. A peg-board for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 1, wherein said electronic circuit means include a separate electronic switching circuit which forms a voltage divider of a voltage-controlled transistor switching stage, said electronic circuit means comprising a plurality of row conduit means, each of which is connected to the magnetic-field-dependent resistances disposed in a row of openings of said peg-board, and a plurality of column conduit means, Each of which is connected to the magnetic field dependent resistances disposed in a column of said peg-board.
 3. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 2, wherein said magnetically conductive member is made of sheet iron, said peg control member having a guide projection and said opening having a mating slot for guidingly receiving said guide projection.
 4. A peg-board for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 2, including terminals connected to said row and column conduit means and also being mounted on said support plate.
 5. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of housings are made of plastic material and have an asymmetrical shape, and filler bodies adapted to be mounted on said support plate so that the housings and filler bodies cover the entire surface of said support plate, said housing having walls so that adjacent housings define said openings and each housing being adapted to house two magnetic-field-dependent resistances.
 6. A device for storing preselected patterns for multisystem circular knitting machines having a plurality of loop-forming members according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of row conduit means are mounted on one side of said support plate and said plurality of column conduit means are mounted on the opposite side of said support plate, wire means connected to and extending from said permanent magnet means through said support plate and being connected to the conduit means which are mounted on the side of the support plate to which the wire means extend by means of soldered connections formed by dipping said side of the support plate in a bath of soldering material. 